Educational device



Dec. 27, 1949 A. E. GOLDFARB EDUCATIONAL DEVICE I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 11, 1946 adogpiz 1949 A. E. GOLDFARB EDUCATIONAL DEVICE Filed May 11, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 THREE BEARS WMQEEFWWEZWQ TEDDY BEAF? Patented Dec. 27, 1949 2 Claims.

fipresent invention relates to educau'bn'aa dEV-ic's and particularly" to educational aids; of fire-view; t y pea While it i's'intended primarily tb be used-in pedagogy; it is al'sb of utiiity-as an amusem nt 'de'vi'ce:

no -wenknown"- mamas r n' ar'e' veryfond of bright colors-and Si'i'npl ola'jcts, that they derive muchenjoii n'ient fiiii p1ay with blocks;-that they-are deeplymtrested in simplepuzzles; and that theyare warm to experimemwith mechanical and electi icl devices; Although these propensities of child'ien o'ften res'ult in injury tothemselves and dimfa'g to household appliances; they may be tamed ihto-cohstructive channel's,- wherein their fsee pursuit contributes both to" the welfare: of the children' and to the comfort of: those having custody of them: It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple,v inexpensive edu:

amon'g parentsah'd teachers oational device which fully exploitsthese wellknowncharacteristics. the young, which issafe in h andl ing, which brings amusement and educ', o'n'al benefits to children and at the same time solvsp'rob'lins presht'dto their custodians.

Itjis aIso we nmbwn topsybh'ologlsts th'af'associatio'n'of ideas is" one of" th'ino's't effective neans by which to acquire and to retain useful f err-en's toy blocks of the alflhabeticall tybe: flfii'y ouple the objective" embodiment or? the lettertothew'hiidsinterest'iii the blbckj'th by t6 stiniulatein himan associationof unspoken letter with" the objective embodiinfit" on the block. It is, accordingly, an object of the res-em: ihvfltion-to provide arr educational device which nht" only? beneficially exploits" the a'b'ovflnen tioiie'd customs of children-but Whichaiso 's'tini mate's-m their minds anassociation between a visual 'objectanda related object or"word. H

The belitof the adult members of fami'ii'es to play with chiidren s toys and educational aids is equally notorious; as is also the-"utility of" chil d 'rerfls' visual educat-iona-l aidsin aduIteducatiZjfi. Other objects of my invention-contemplate th bibi/iding- 'ofan educational device which will satisf'y th'es'e tendencies of the adult.

(Dth'er. obj eats: of my invention willbecom'e an parent from a written description of the 'ac'o'on'i fianying drawings-An which thereis'= illustrated azpreferred formofs educ'ational -device in accord: ante withmy invention. In thedrawingsz his a p'erspective vieW of the devioeg as sembled and ready for use;

Bilge-is avsimilanperspective=view; shbW if-Igfhe support memben asi-imappe'ans when-the parii is a 2:; feriio /ed and sho'wing the individi-zai' manual-i3 obf e e'lectrical contacfofs; ih p'o'siti'ofls with diaw 'fioin'thesocketon=the*suppont;

Fig. 3 is= a=ii'-end'-- elevatioz'ial sectionai v-iew, takem aiong'aline of- Fig. 1 looking in -the dii cfiioil of we arrcws Fig. 4 'is- 'a deta-iie and fra'gmentary View of the cGn-cmwrs-previaa on the Fig; l embo'di menu";

Fie'e Ed's-a}sid"e1evationa sectionalView; taken a on wheime-5-4 of Fig: 1; looking in these ca b penel 'l l is p'laced in slots I Z li-o'f 'a- -wo' od support member 14;- The panel has- 8,

piuraiity O'fitianSIucent-Windows l5? I i-31 8; and L9; iiiatle-of thin -paperi Oh -the reai -s-ides of the winaews are pa-mced objective e bodiments orpictfires orgsevei al animals or: other things. Fo'z' pu' 'es'esfdfi illustration I fiav chbsen aeteddy ban th'i'lee bears; flbw'r s Bind dOlIS. Any other obj c {such as large alphabetical letters; may be chosen-L 'Ih'e windbws normaily"concal the objects and are individually placed inregistr3i witnrlammwens 241, 24, 22; and 23; respectivel in which-are: placed lamps-24, 25; 2'6 and 2 1 w hemanyon'e of thelamps glowsth'e li ght asses through the window and the associated object is illuminated and r'eveaied.

The childis told to findthe three:- bears; for example;- His curiosity is I immediately aroused; since-= he Sees none of the'objeot's. Heis als'o informedi'that he should find the right oneof the contactor b1ocks 2'8,.29-, or 31', and'ins''rt it" in one 'of the sockets" 3'2, saying-or 352 instincts for solving puzzles: and Handling blocks then' 'co'r'ne mw my. because only one of thefoufi'bl'clis will} when inserted-imam. socket; close the circuit for the 1a-inp 25, which illuminates the three bears." amohg the blocks" and eventuailyfihds' the proper one', 1'n'-this 1nstance, block 31, and inserts it in one of the sockets-3 say socket/ 35; Still" theob'ject is r iot illuminate inclination for exberi menting: is -ri ow satisfied by depr'ss'ihg the-push button immediateiybelow-the inserted blocm say; push biittoii fli- Now his 'curio'sity 'is' arousew as tii- Wh'y the use of I block-3 I? Defi'h'itteZi Hiih tO SO H makes-=2 Select-ion fioin the three bears while the use of the other blocks did not. He notes that the obvious difference between that block and the other blocks is that block 3| has the words Three bears inscribed thereon. Thus all of these tendencies of children are fully exploited in stimulating in the child a mental association of the picture or the three bears, an objective embodiment of one idea, and the words Three bears an objective embodiment of a relate'didea.

Similarly the user must use'block 28 if he wants to see the dolls, and blocks 29 and 30 for the teddy bear and flowers, respectively. Further, several panels and several sets of blocks canv be provided, each block being efiective in causing the illumination of an object associated with the word inscribed thereon. set of blocks and several sets of removable namecards, one set of cards for each panel may be used. And the number of objects on the panel can be increased, as desired, so that an aid in teaching the whole alphabet may be provided by painting large letters behind the windows and inscribing small letters on the blocks.

The usual mode of operation of my educational device involves the placement of all of the connectors in their sockets as shown in Fig. 1. If the connectors are so arranged, the user sees the illuminated dolls only when he presses button 36, for example. If the connectors are so placed, a child i. ll rapidly determine that he can illuminate the dolls by pressing on button 36, the teddy bear by pressing on button 31, the flowers by depressing button 38, and the three bears by depressing button 39. However, if the connectors are interchanged and the child presses on the same buttons as before, he will see different objects. If, for example, connector 30 is placed in socket 35, he will see the flowers rather than the three bears when he depresses button 39. By interchanging the connectors, a parent or teacher can show the child that he can illuminate the object which he desires to see by one method only, and that is by depressing the button under the connector which carries the word for that object. Thus the curiosity of the child drives him to acquire knowledge concerning the words for the objects he desires to see and the operation of my device assures that he must acquire that knowledge before he can be certain that he will see that object.

It will be understood that when connector 28, for example, is placed in any one of the four sockets, depression of the push-button under the socket used will cause the dolls to be illuminated. The other connectors have similar operations.

Referring now specifically to Fig. 6 of the drawings there are shown a plurality of normallyopen individual lamp circuits, each of which is adapted to be closed by one of the block-shaped contactors 28, 29, 30 or 3|, and to permit the illumination of one of the windows l9, |6, |8 or I1, respectively. The circuit for lamp 24 (teddy bear) comprises an electric-current source or low voltage battery 4|], that one of push-button switches 36, 31, 38 or 39 which is immediately below the socket into which contactor 29 is inserted, that one of contact bars 4|, 42, 43 or 44 which is in that socket, the spring-contact 46 of contactor 29, that one of the four terminals A which is in the socket used, and lamp 24. The circuit for lamp 25 (three bears) comprises the source, that one of the push-button switches which is below the. socket into which contactor 3| is inserted, that one of the contact bars which In the alternative, one.

: socket in which the is in that socket, the spring contact 41 of contactor 3|, that one of the four terminals C which is in the socket so used, and lamp 25. The circuit for lamp 26 (flowers) comprises the source, that one of the push-button switches which is below the socket in which contactor 30 is inserted, that one of the contact bars which is in that socket, the spring contact 48 of contactor 30, that one or the four terminals B which is in that socket, and lamp 26. The circuit for lamp 21 (dolls) similarly comprises the source, that one of the push-buttons which is located below the contactor 28 is inserted, that one of the contact bars which is located in that socket, the spring contact 49 of contactor 28, that one of the four terminals D which is located in that socket so used, and lamp 21. The terminals marked A are connected together and the terminals marked B, C, and D are similarly arranged. The terminals are placed in like sequential groups in each of the sockets 32, 33, 34, and 35. A contact bar 4|, 42, 43, or 44 is provided in each socket. The socket terminals are permanently placed in the lamp circuits. The contactor device 29 is complementary to the contactor devices 4 |-A, 42-A, 43-A and 44--A, out is non-complementary to the contactor devices including the terminals B, C, and D. Similarly, the contactor device 28 is complementary only to contactor devices 4 |-D, 42-D, 43-D and 44-D. The contactor device 30 is complementary to the contactor devices 4 |B, 42-B, 43-B, and 44-3. And the contactor device 3| is complementary only to the contactor devices 4|-C, 42--C, 43-C, and 44-C. The Word complementary is here used in the electrical sense and involves cooperation to close a circuit. Thus it will be seen that only contactor 28 will permit the lighting of lamp 21 (dolls) when inserted in a socket and when the push-button immediately below that socket is depressed. The word dolls is inscribed thereon. For that purpose, removable cards may be employed. The operation of contactors 29 (teddy bear), 30 (flowers) and 3| (three bears) will be apparent in the light of the foregoing descriptron.

The details of the contactors are shown in Fig. 3. Each comprises a plywood block having a spring metal contact secured thereto. Each carries a card on which a word is inscribed. The contactors differ only in the locations of their metal contacts, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4.

The details of the sockets are shown in Fig. 4. The blocks and sockets are provided with grooves 55, so that the blocks can not be inserted in the sockets upside down. Under the conditions illustrated in Fig. 4, the dolls and the three bears can be illuminated by depressing push-buttons 36 and 31, respectively. It would be seen that the contacts on the contactor close the circuit between a contact bar and the appropriate one of the terminals A, B, C or D.

The terminals are secured to an appropriate plywood base 53 and the battery is placed in a well 52 in base 53. The battery is preferably of a low-voltage type. The wiring is located between the back-board 5| and the base 53. The base is glued to the support member and the back-board 5| is tacked thereto, to permit ready access to the wiring. The construction is simple and inexpensive.

While there has been shown and described what is at present regarded as the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the true scope of the invention and it is, accordingly, intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes as fall within the proper scope of the invention and outside of the proper scope of the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An educational device for stimulating assoelation of ideas comprising, in combination, a plurality of objects and a like plurality of parallel lamp circuits for illuminating said objects; together with a plurality of connector stations, said connector stations being spaced apart from each other in difierent locations with respect to the plurality of objects, at least one terminal of each of the illuminating lamp circuits extending to each of the connector stations, with the terminals of each circuit similarly positioned in each of the connector stations; together with a plurality of separable interchangeable circuit-closure members of the same size, shape and configuration but with dilferent identifying indicia inscribed thereon; the difierent indicia of the several cir- 6 cult-closure members being associated with the several difierent objects, and at least one contact element on each circuit-closure member to close the illuminating circuit to the object associated with the indicia appearing on that particular circuit-closure member.

2. An educational device in accordance with claim 1 in which the connector stations comprise an open front socket and the closure members consist of a plug adapted to fit in and be received by the socket.

ADOLPH E. GOLDFARB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,393,822 Parker Oct. 18, 1921 1,451,569 Frederick Apr. 10, 1923 1,617,272 Peterson Feb. 8, 1927 1,932,994 Tucker Oct. 31, 1933 2,050,805 Pumar Aug. 11, 1936 

